Rebirthing
by Captain Symmetry
Summary: ONE-SHOT. Songfic based on the song Rebirthing by Skillet. 'I lie here paralytic, inside this soul; Screaming for you till my throat is numb.' Kinda fluffy. Probably not exactly 'hurt/comfort' but it's the closest out of the options.


Yay, another story! Once again I have written a songfic, I don't know what it is but I seem to get story inspiration from songs.  
>For those of you who read or are reading my other fic (Take Me Away Tonight) I am working on the extra chapter, but I got sidetracked and forgot where I was going with it. Don't worry, it will be up soon, I'm on holidays at the moment so I'm hoping to have it done in a week of two.<p>

In the meantime, there's this. And I just want to say this right now, before anyone comments about it, that **I know this is not necessarily how a coma works**, **I wrote it this way because I wanted to and if I didn't there wouldn't be a story.** Also, if you pay attention, I do explain the odd circumstances, kind of.

**I don't own Soul Eater, if I did, Soul and Maka would have hooked up a loooong time ago, Black Star would be forced to wear a gag at all times and Kid would be in my bed _straightening everything out._**

_Enjoy_

* * *

><p><strong><span>Rebirthing<span>**

_Why am I here?_ Soul found himself in the black room, the room in his soul where the black-blooded demon lurked. He struggled with himself to find the reason for being here, last he remembered Maka and himself were in battle with a kishin egg, and it was going well. They weren't using the black blood, nor had the demon been taunting Soul as it usually did before dragging him in here; come to think of it, Soul didn't sense the demon's presence at all.  
>"So why am I here?" Asking the question to anyone who might hear, knowing full well that no one was in here to listen, Soul sat on the armchair to wait out his time spent captive in his own soul.<em> If only I knew how to get out of here on my own.<em>

"Soul?" Instantly, Soul sat up in his seat, looking around in confusion. "Soul!" He had definitely heard Maka call his name, but had no idea where her voice came from, she wasn't in the room. _Maybe I can hear her from outside?_ Soul perked up with what seemed to him like a genius idea. _Maybe she can hear me?_

"Maka, Maka can you hear me? MAKA!" Soul didn't have to wait long for Maka's voice to reach him again, but it was not in reply.

"Soul? If this is a joke then it's definitely NOT cool. SOUL! Wake up, please. Shit, shit-fuck. Soul please." Maka's voice broke towards the end of her pleas, and she broke into audible sobs. _What's wrong with her? None of this makes any sense._ Desperate now, Soul needed to get out; he had no idea what was going on, but he knew that Maka needed him. He stood, racing around the room, searching through the thick curtains for a door or window, or anything; finding nothing, he resorted to yelling.

"MAKA! LISTEN TO ME, I'M RIGHT HERE. MAKA! ARE YOU LISTENING? MAKA!" Nothing changed, Soul was still alone in the black room and Maka was still vigorously sobbing. He had to do something, but there was nothing for him to do but shout at the top of his lungs, hoping for someone to hear; so he did. "MAKA! HELLO? ARE YOU THERE? I DON'T KNOW IF YOU CAN HEAR ME, BUT I NEED YOU TO HELP ME. MAKA!"  
>He continued to scream for Maka until his voice cracked and his throat felt raw and the only sound to come out was a raspy breath of a voice. Having finally given up, Soul sat in silence, listening to Maka's loud sobbing and occasional utterance of his name. She soon stopped and a new voice could be heard, a bored sounding drone. <em>Must be Stein.<em> It was hard for Soul to tell exactly what the conversation between Maka and the professor was about, between Maka's teary choked voice and Stein's low, sombre mumble; but he picked up bits and pieces and that was enough for Soul. The kishin egg struck an unexpected blow; Maka, having learnt from the first fight with Crona that if she refused to block with Soul in weapon form, he would just change back protect her himself, blocked as expected of her, but something must have gone wrong because Soul was now unconscious and completely unresponsive.  
>He didn't know what happened to the kishin, Soul figured it either ran off or Maka fought it alone. <em>Weird, I've been knocked unconscious before plenty of times, I never came to the black room.<em> He heard the sounds of a car, presumably one of the DWMA's private ambulances, and Maka, her constant sobbing had ceased, but Soul could still hear the odd chocked sniffle. He wanted nothing more than to be able to comfort his distraught meister, but he of course couldn't.

Soul was bored out of his mind waiting to wake up, he sat in the chair for a while, growing more fidgety as time passed. Eventually, he stood and walked around the room, examining it properly for the first time. He noted the piano sitting away in its corner, but chose not to dwell on its existence, instead opting to check out the desk on which the record player sat. He first turned the vintage player on; hoping some music would make the time go faster, or drown out Maka's heartbreaking sniffles and sobs. Then he examined the desk, it had drawers; in the first drawer was a black book and a pen, Soul lifted the notebook for further inspection, it was black leather bound and in dull red letters on the front cover read 'Animam Dormientem, Commentarios De Comatose' _The fuck? This is my soul, why would this be in a foreign language?_ He read the words again, slowly, hoping to at least work out what language it was written in. _Animam? Dormientiem? Commentarios, kinda sounds like comment, de comatose? Comatose? I know that word, what is it again? What I wouldn't give for Maka to be here now, I bet she would know what this mumbo jumbo means._ He flicked through the book, it was all blank pages save for the first page or two._ This explains the pen, must be a notebook._ Satisfied with his conclusion, Soul placed the book back in its drawer, looking now into the one below it. _Sheet music?_He lifted the offending pages, rummaging through them. _All blank. Makes sense, I guess, I never was one to play someone else's composition._  
>Soul shut the drawer, hoping they were the only musical relics, and moved onto the next one.<br>This drawer held another leather bound book, a photo album; opening the large book, Soul found pictures of himself as a baby and small child with his family, flicking through, he got progressively older. _A photo album of my life._  
>He closed the album, about to place it back in its drawer when something caught his eye, sitting in the bottom of the drawer was an empty photo frame. Looking back into the album, Soul took out a photo to place in the frame; it was of Maka and himself, they were sitting on a park bench together, each holding a coffee and laughing at something, as they usually would after school on a Friday. Soul could almost hear Maka's bubbly laughter, her smile brightening the whole image. It was a happy photo; now smiling himself, Soul took the framed photo and placed it on the side table next to his chair, then put the album away in its home, closed the drawer and turned to the fourth and last one.<br>_A crystal ball? Why the hell is there a crystal ball in here?_ Indeed there was a crystal ball in the last drawer, it was clear and sat on a dark wooden stand, there was a note attached to one of the legs. 'Instructions in the book'. _Really? What am I going to use a crystal ball for?_ Despite his scepticism, Soul carefully placed the ball on the round table with the photo frame, and took the 'Animam Dormientem', sat comfortably in his arm chair and opened the book to the first page, a title page. 'Animam Dormientem, Commentarios De Comatose.'  
>'Sleeping Soul, Memoirs of the Comatose'<br>_Finally, a translation, bout time _something_ got explained. Odd title though, oh well._ Paying it no further heed, Soul turned to the next page:

_Anima Oculum  
>Soul's Eye.<em>

_The Anima Oculum, or Soul's Eye, is a portal-like device which allows a Comatose to view the Earthly world whilst still in the confines of their Soul Room. It is a spiritual device, and so, does not function mechanically; in order to make use of the Soul's Eye, the user must tell the Soul's Eye to show the desired scene through desire and will. For first time users, it is recommended to vocalise your wishes._

Soul looked up from the pages of the Sleeping Soul, and studied the crystal ball. "You'll show me what's happening in the outside world? Huh? Let's see if you work." He quickly stopped the record player, sat back down and double checked the instructions, if they could even be called that, and turned again to the ball, staring at it intently. "Show me where my body is." Soul sat for a moment, still staring into the ball, it remained the same for a second before the inside became foggy, clearing to show the school's infirmary. The beeping of a heart monitor could be heard and there lay Soul, on the infirmary bed with various wires and tubes stuck into him all over the place; Maka sat in the visitor's chair beside his bed, clinging to his hand like a lifeline, still caked in blood and mud from the mission, eyes red and puffy from crying.  
>Soul didn't even notice Spirit standing behind her, a comforting hand placed on her shoulder, until the death scythe spoke.<p>

"Maka, I know this is tough, but you really should consider going home and getting some rest." He looked down at his grief-stricken daughter with soft, sorrowful eyes before trying again. "Honey, Soul is safe now, under the care of one of the best doctors in the world, there's nothing more you can do for him now, you can't just wake someone from a coma, so we just have to wait. He will still be here tomorrow, alive and safe; the best thing you can do right now is to look after yourself and your injuries while we wait for Soul to wake up." _A coma? I'm in a fucking coma? Comatose, of course, how did I not get that?_ Maka looked up at her father, fresh tears streaking her face.

"I guess you're right. Promise you will call me if anything happens?" If Soul thought Maka looked like a wreck, it was nothing compared to the sound of her voice. Her normally enthusiastic, sweet voice was now nothing more than a horse drone, devoid of life or emotion. She sounded two hundred years old; it hurt Soul to see her in this state.

"Of course, sweetie, now head on home and rest. Everything will be okay." Spirit's comforting words had no effect on Maka as she stood from her seat and moved almost like a sleepwalker out of the infirmary and into the early morning. Soul instantly noticed her absence, not just the visual evidence, but he felt the disappearance of her presence, a distinct _lacking of something_. Never the less, it wasn't a nice feeling and now more than ever, Soul felt like a comatose.

_x

_Album Vitae  
>Album of Life<em>

_The album shows images from different moments in your life in chronological order. The images are not photographs which have been taken by an Earthly camera, but snapshots of moments which were emotionally or spiritually significant at the time._

Soul flicked through the pages of the album, watching as he grew up page by page. There was a picture for every memory; and Soul found that reminiscing with this album was a great way to pass the time; he found that he couldn't sleep in the black room, so he passed the time flicking through the pages of the seemingly endless tome. Maka visited for a few hours after school, everyday he would watch her through the 'Soul's Eye' as she sat by his bed, holding his limp hand and talking to him, recounting her day and asking him questions which she knew she would never hear the answers to.

"Black Star did the most idiotic thing today, I swear he gets dumber by the minute." It was three thirty, Maka's visiting time; she let out a humourless laugh at the expense of their friend. "He got a hold of some spray paint and used it to 'autograph' the school. You can imagine Kid went berserk, he threw a tantrum, and then he started fighting with Black Star. It was pretty funny to watch, 'Star was grumbling about being defeated and suspended for the rest of the day. The point is, Black Star got suspended for two weeks, isn't that great?" Another humourless laugh and a fake smile from Maka.

"That is pretty sweet, lucky me, I haven't had to put up with him this whole time." Soul always responded to her questions, knowing she couldn't hear him; but at least it somewhat resembled a conversation, something he couldn't have whilst in solitary confinement in his own soul.

"You know, the gang's thinking of coming in to visit tomorrow; everyone misses you, we haven't really done anything as a group besides eat lunch together. Black Star was pretty cut up when he heard what happened, he went ape-shit in training that day, he almost killed Kilik when they spared, if Sid wasn't there, he probably would have." Maka dropped her poor disguise of happiness as she spoke, she dropped her head, speaking to her feet. Soul became alarmed, when she got like this, Maka would stop talking, just sitting there silently until she had to go home.

"No, Maka, don't stop talking. How's Blair? Has your stupid father done anything amusing lately? I'm so alone in here, if you're not talking to me, no one is." Soul pleaded to her, knowing she wouldn't hear, but he had to at least try. Silent tears fell from Maka's eyes. _She's crying, great, now she's definitely not going to talk._ Maka's sobs became audible now and she pulled herself closer to Soul's body, burying her face in his chest, balling her hands in the sheets. It was a heart wrenching sight for Soul, who could only sit, watching.

"I. Miss. You." Sniffle. "So-o Mu-u-ch." Maka's cries wracked her whole body as she forced her broken words between sobs and sniffles. "Why did this ha-ave to ha-a-pe-en?" She continued to bawl her eyes out for a good ten or fifteen minutes before she regained control of her tears; Maka turned her head so she looked up at Soul's blank face, her ear turned towards his heart. "I can still hear it beating, faintly, but it's beating so you must be alive; it's hard to believe though. Will you ever wake up, Soul?"

"Yes, I hope so."

"You probably can't even hear me." Maka's eyes filled with fresh tears, ready to fall.

"I can, Maka, you just can't hear me. I'm still here."

"It's not the same without you, the apartment seems too big and empty without you. Sometimes I'll forget you're here and accidentally make dinner for both of us; I don't even want to stay there anymore, it's hardly home anymore without you." Her eyes reached full capacity and the tears welling up fell sideways across her face and into the scratchy hospital sheets. "You have to wake up, I can't live without you, Soul." Soul was speechless for a moment, frozen by the enormity of her words.

"I can't live without you either." Maka had shut down after that, she went into that silent state where she just sat there, almost like a statue, lost in thought for the rest of her time in the infirmary.

_x

Loud, irritating noises alerted Soul to the arrival of visitors, he was looking through the album as he usually would when no one was visiting, he was now up to when he was about six or seven years old. Soul turned to the Soul's Eye, looking into it to find that, true to her word, Maka had brought their friends to visit this afternoon. As much as he missed seeing his friends, Soul couldn't help but feel slightly annoyed; this was his time with Maka, she was only in here for a few hours, now because everyone else was here, her wouldn't get the precious one on one time where she spoke so freely to him.  
>That, and also Black Star was slapping him across the face.<p>

_Slap!_

"GET UP!"

_Slap!_

"OPEN YOUR EYES FUCKTARD!"

_Slap!_

"GET UP YOU LAZY BUM, STOP BEING SUCH A DOUCHE, YOUR GOD COMMANDS YOU!" Maka was right, he really isn't handling this well.

_Slap!_

"SOUL! WAKE UP!"

"Black Star, please stop; get off Soul-Kun, you're not helping." Tsubaki grabbed his hand mid-swing, and pulled Black Star from on top of Soul. "I'm sorry, Maka, I thought he would behave; he seemed fine this morning." Tsubaki was now restraining Black Star, partially transforming to use her chains to tie him up. As for Maka, she looked shocked and angry, and just about every other negative emotion you could think of. She turned away from the struggling assassin and his weapon, opting instead to look at Soul's body.

"It's okay Tsubaki, he meant well; and you couldn't have known he would act like that." Maka's voice sounded less forgiving and more fatigued, like she hadn't slept in years. Kid entered the room, followed by Liz and Patty; and carrying a small bouquet of Death-Daisies, a common flower to give to someone who is sick or injured, it's believed that despite its namesake, the Death-Daisy's fragrance soothes the soul, helping it heal.

"Sorry we're late, Patty insisted we brought flowers and they required rearranging." Kid gestured to the bouquet which did seem oddly symmetrical and organised. Liz filled one of the infirmary's vases with water, dropped the flowers in and placed it on the bedside table. Patty sat next to Black Star, talking about god knows what, while kid stood next to Maka with one arm wrapped comfortingly around her shoulder. "How are you holding up?" Kid's voice was soft and full of concern for Maka, Soul was getting annoyed, _he_ should be the one comforting Maka, she was _his_ partner.

"I don't know, not well, I can't sleep and I'm sure you've noticed me getting to school late. It's not the same without him around, and I don't know what to do, I miss him." Maka hung her head, but Soul knew she was crying, again, because of him. Kid pulled her into a hug, stroking her back in a soothing fashion.

"Everything will be okay; we're all here for you." Soul knew those words were innocent enough, but still he felt the urge to punch Kid in his asymmetrical face; that was Soul's meister he was touching and comforting.

"Maka, I'm gonna take Black Star home now, are you right to get home by yourself?" Tsubaki pulled Black Star towards the door by the chains restraining him.

"Yeah, I'll be fine, see you tomorrow." The pair of assassins left, leaving Maka with Kid and his two weapons who were currently playing noughts and crosses, no doubt to keep Patty amused and out of trouble. "Kid, what if he never wakes up?" Soul sat up in his chair, paying close attention.

"He will, don't you worry."

"But what if? He's been out for a week now, what am I supposed to do if he stays like this for months or even years?" He hadn't thought about that, Soul figured this would all be over in a week of two. _How long does a coma usually last for?_ Kid seemed not to have thought of that either.

"If it comes to that, I guess the best thing to do would be for you to find a new weapon and depending on his condition, I guess we might have to pull the plug." Kid's words scared the shit out of Soul, and Maka seemed pretty shocked too.

"WHAT? No, I couldn't just let him die, I couldn't. And I don't want another partner, I _can't_ have another partner, it wouldn't be the same, we wouldn't have the same bond and I wouldn't care for them like I do for Soul." Maka was having a breakdown of sorts, spewing words and fragments of sentences and crying her eyes out, holding close to Soul's body much like she had the day before.

"Maka, please don't cry, I'm not gonna leave you, it's not cool; I... _care_ for you too. I will live, for you." Soul found himself holding the crystal ball as if it would somehow let him hold Maka.

"Maka, don't worry, it's only a 'what if', Soul will pull through." Kid tried to console the weeping girl, but to no avail.

"Maka, honey, Kid doesn't know what he's talking about; come on, we'll give you a lift home." Liz shot Kid a glare which could only mean trouble for him when he got home.

"Yeah, and we'll stop and get some of that special ice cream on the way, sis says it's the best ice cream in the world, it makes anyone happy." Patty come closer to Maka's ear and whispered in a hushed tone. "That's how she get's Kid to shut up when he's having a 'moment', if it works on him, I'm sure it will work on you." Maka smiled a little, happy that her friends were here to help her get by.

"Thank you Patty, that sounds nice. You guys go one ahead, I'll just be a moment, I wanna say goodbye." Understanding Maka's request, the trio left the room to wait outside the door. "I'm sorry, I didn't really get a chance to talk to you and this visit was pretty short too; don't worry, it will be just me tomorrow, I promise. And I'm sorry about Black Star, you know how he is. Anyway, I can't keep everyone waiting, that ice cream must be amazing if it calms Kid down. I'll see you tomorrow, Soul." She leaned forward, lightly kissing Soul's forehead. "Please wake up soon." Maka left the room to join her friends, Soul sat in his chair, a little stunned by her action. _Did she just...?_ Soul set the crystal ball back onto its stand and reopened the album, looking specifically at images of Maka and himself, searching for anything that might show the something _more_ which he just got a brief hint at.

_x

Soul sat in his chair still, this time with the Animam Dormientem and a pen in his hand. _It says 'memoirs of the comatose', might as well make some memoirs._

_It has been eight days since I entered this coma, and I've finally decided to give this a go. Maka has visited me every day and spoken to me even though I can't reply.  
>Yesterday, she brought everyone in to visit, I wasn't exactly happy about it, but it was kinda nice to see everyone again. My time with Maka was cut short when Liz offered her a lift home and ice cream. Speaking of that, I really miss food, I'm not actually hungry, but I just miss eating and Maka going out for ice cream yesterday made me realise what I've been missing.<br>But that's not the important part, when she left yesterday, Maka _kissed_ me. Not on the lips or anything, just a peck on the forehead, but a kiss all the same. And before that she said that she can't live without me, that she _cares_ about me differently than she would another weapon. And not to sound like a hopeful little school girl, but instead of going through the album like I usually would last night, I spent my time looking for pictures of us together, I don't know exactly what I hoped to find but in the top photo on page 3506, I swear she's giving me a look._

_Anyway, it's almost time for her to visit._

Soul closed the book, pleased with himself for writing all that down, and feeling more than a little emasculated, looked expectantly into the crystal ball. It wasn't long before Maka showed up.

"I'm sorry if the conversation yesterday made you uncomfortable or anything, but it's true, I couldn't let you die, or get some other partner."

"I know you wouldn't, I'm just too cool for you to leave."

"I have been getting some letters from weapons who don't have a meister yet, asking if I would partner up with them." _Of course they have, as soon as I'm out of the picture, suddenly everyone wants Maka._ Bitterly, Soul decided that once he woke up, he was going to have a little talk with these suitors.

"And I was thinking, if our positions were switched, would you accept someone else as your meister?"

"NO! Of course not, you're the best partner a weapon could have." There was a pause while Maka seemed to be thinking something over. "You know yesterday, I'm not sure if you noticed, but I did, I've been up all night thinking about it. Hah! Kinda ironic isn't it, my body's as asleep as humanly possible and yet I'm pretty much an insomniac in here; but that's not the point, what I really wanted to say was that you _kiiinda_ kissedmeontheforehead yesterday aannd I was wondering what exactly you meant by that?" After it all fell out of his mouth, Soul was thankful that she couldn't actually hear anything he said and that she changed the conversation without ever witnessing his verbal vomit. _Wow that was really uncool, I'm just going to forget that ever happened._

"You know, I was thinking, nurse Nygus said it's okay if I wanted to stay the night tomorrow; she's got a mission with Sid and needs someone to be here, you know, in case. Well, she said that me being here would be a good idea. What do you think?" Maka was holding Soul's hand now, idly playing with his fingers.

"Cool, it would be nice to have some company."

"Doesn't matter what you think, I'm staying anyway." Maka smiled, a genuine smile, something Soul hadn't seen this whole time. _That must have been some pretty amazing ice cream. Or maybe she's just really happy about staying here tomorrow night._ "Maybe I'll actually get a good night's sleep, I don't know if you've noticed but I haven't exactly been getting the required eight hours of sleep." To stress her point, Maka pointed a finger to her dark-ringed eyes. "I never thought I'd actually say this, but I don't think I can sleep without the sound of you snoring, and yes, you do snore, quite loudly." She laughed a little at her statement.

"I don't snore, I might breathe loudly, but I don't snore; maybe it's you." Soul protested and joined Maka's banter, but the latter, being unable to hear Soul's replies, turned once again to her apathetic mood.

"I guess you're getting enough sleep for the both of us aren't you." She looked down at her hands which were clasped around Soul's limp one; looking up and out the window, Maka spoke again. "I should be getting home; it's going to rain soon. See you tomorrow for our awesome sleepover, kay?" She tried to force a laugh at her lame joke, but couldn't. "Bye Soul." After she left, Soul took out the Animam Dormientem and began listing all the different ways he was going to _teach_ the other weapons going after Maka that she already had a loyal partner.

_x

Soul finished looking through the photo album depicting his life at about ten in the morning, finishing on an image of him unconscious in the infirmary as his body is now.

"What now?" He asked the room, hoping that it would reveal some other secret or something for him to do; but it remained the same, the chair, the table, the desk and record player, and the piano which sat in the corner, isolated from the other pieces of furniture. Having given up on his initial plan of not touching the instrument, Soul stood and walked towards it, gathering some of the blank sheets of sheet music and sat on the bench, papers placed on the lid of the piano next to a candle. Soul lifted the fall and began to play, a soft melody, it was in the same dark, tortured style of all his compositions, but played with less power and energy. Somehow through playing, Soul felt oddly at peace, like everything was alright; it was a good feeling. Liking the sound of his improvised music, Soul put pen to paper and wrote out what he had played so far, jumping between the keys and paper to copy everything down as he played; occasionally he would stop his writing to play everything together and then continue to write.

He stayed like this for hours until he guestimated that it was almost three-thirty, Maka time. Soul sat in his chair, watching through the crystal ball expectantly and with excitement, waiting a little longer than usual for Maka to show up; when she did, an hour and a half late, Soul realised the reason for her tardiness. _Oh, right, she's staying here tonight. Must have gone home to get some things._

"Hello." Soul almost replied until he saw that Maka wasn't talking to him, but to Nygus.

"Hey, Maka, you're here; great. Now just a few things before I go, if anything happens, here's Stein's number." The bandaged woman handed Maka a slip of paper. "He's going to be a little closer than I am tonight, so if anything happens, call him immediately. I'm sure I can trust you not to make a mess in here, so that won't be an issue. Just one last thing, no one is allowed in here after hours unless they are bringing in a patient, in which case you have Stein's number. There's tea and coffee in the kitchenette along with some food which is supposed to be for overnight patients, but it won't hurt if you have some if you're hungry. Have fun kiddo." The nurse dashed from the infirmary, in a hurry to get going on her mission.

"Guess it's just you and me now, eh?" Maka turned to Soul with one of her dazzling smiles and moved towards the miniature version of a kitchen. "I'm just going to make myself some tea, and then we've got all night to chill." Soul had never noticed her do it before, but Maka hummed to herself while making tea. _Does she always do that? I've never heard her hum while in the kitchen before. Although, I don't really pay much attention to what Maka does when she's cooking, maybe she does it all the time._ While Soul pondered whether or not humming in the kitchen was a regular thing for Maka, said girl had already made her tea and sat in her usual chair beside him. "So how was your day?" She asked jokingly.

"Pretty good, actually, I finished going through the photo album and started a new song, I might play it for you when I wake up. What about you?"

"My day was alright, I was kinda out of it in class though; remind me to get notes off Tsubaki." It was almost scary to Soul how they could carry out these conversations and Maka didn't have a clue what he was saying, or if he was replying to her questions at all. But he didn't mind, it meant company, something he sorely missed. "I brought a book, which I thought you might like, I read it a few years ago; it's called Deltora Quest(1) about these kids and an old bodyguard go on a quest to collect these magical stones to restore the king to the throne and rid the lad of the evil tyrant. I know it sounds dorky, but it's actually pretty cool, and you can't say you don't like these types of books, I found your Harry Potter collection." _She found that? How?_

"Fine, read the book; if I don't like it, I can always put on some music."  
>Soul did in fact like the book, he listened while Maka read it to him with her musical voice which must have been made for storytelling, he was so into the book that when it ended, three hours later, he almost cried from torture when he realised it was part of a series and that Maka had only brought the first book with her. "Fuck you, now I have to actually <em>read<em> the rest of them; actually, I have to wait till I wake up to read them, even better."

"Did you like it? I have the rest at home if you want to read them; I think there are seven books in this series, don't worry, they aren't that thick." Maka busied herself with putting the book away in her bag. "Maybe, if you want, I might be able to read them to you; I mean, if you're too lazy to read them yourself." It was surprising how Maka could go from avid enthusiasm to bashfulness like she just did, catching Soul off guard with her sincere offer to read to him. _She must know I'm not a very good reader._

"I'd like that. Maybe you could bring the next one in with you tomorrow? Please?" Instead of answering Soul's unheard question, Maka made herself busy in the kitchen, making herself some soup in a mug and toast, humming again. _So she does do it all the time?_

After preparing her dinner, Maka sat in her chair to eat it. "You know." she spoke between mouthfuls "It's actually." Another bite from her toast, she swallowed. "Pretty spooky here now that the sun's down." She took a sip of her soup, wincing as it burned her tongue. "I don't know how Nygus can stay in here overnight all the time; but it sure was nice of her to offer me to stay, don't you think?" Blowing on the steaming liquid this time, Maka took a cautious sip from her soup.

"It was pretty nice of her, I can't begin to describe how bored I would be if you weren't here." Maka finished her meal in silence before diving into her bag to pull out a toothbrush and toothpaste.

"I'll just be a minute." And true to her word, Maka was back just a minute or two later, reclaimed her seat and pulled a blanket from her seemingly bottomless bag to wrap around herself. "I hope you don't mind, but I haven't gotten any decent sleep lately, I'm pretty tired so I'm gonna go to sleep."

"Not at all, I'll just be here, awake, doing nothing, by myself, for hours." Soul's mock complaints fell on deaf ears. Maka curled up on her little armchair, her head resting on the edge of Soul's mattress. "Goodnight Soul." She closed her eyes in preparation for sleep.

"Goodnight Maka." Soul watched as Maka drifted into sleep, stirring every few minutes as if to find a more comfortable position for her head. He stood, crossing the room to the magnificent black piano which he had, for the most part, avoided; sitting on the bench, Soul lifted the fall and began to play, picking up where he left off that morning, playing slowly like before, a lullaby to lull Maka, deaf to his song, to a peaceful sleep. He felt the same serene sense of belonging as before, but this time more complete with the presence of his precious meister's wavelength.

Love, that's what he felt; love for his closest friend and partner, who was always there for him, cared for him, and is probably the only person in the world who could put up with him like she does. Soul was sure that if you asked him to describe what he found most attractive in a woman, he would describe Maka, in all her violent, stubborn, dorky, moody, uptight, know-it-all, quick-tempered glory. _Wow, she really has a lot of bad traits, good thing she's got me to love her, 'cause god knows no one else would._ Soul could almost feel the book that would befriend his skull if Maka ever heard that joke. _Probably for the best if I don't make that opinion known._ He picked up the tempo, playing with much more vigour and enthusiasm, picking up pace and strength along with the heart monitor which beeped a backdrop of constant noise, in time with Soul's deafening crescendo. He lost himself to the music, a pleasure he had abstained from too long; He threw his head back, eyes closed tightly, feeling the power of the instrument at his fingertips pulsate through him with every touch of a key.

Then he felt it, a dull pain in his head, the prickly sensation of pins and needles, he moved his fingers to hit the keys, but felt nothing but fabric, and a weight on his left arm; and that noise, it was _the_ most irritating noise in the history of annoying noises (and that's saying something because Soul endures Black Star speaking just about every day). Soul opened his eyes, waiting for the blurring to subside and looked around; he was in a bed, a hospital bed, in the school's infirmary and Maka was sleeping on his arm. She was shifting unconsciously, most likely disturbed by the unyielding sound of the heart monitor screeching every time Soul's heart beat, which was beginning to slow to a normal pace. Soul rolled onto his side to face the sleeping figure of his meister, tossing up whether or not to wake her; he brushed aside some hair that had fallen into her face, glimpsing the dark bags under her eyes, Soul decided it was best to let her sleep.  
>Tired himself, Soul snuggled into the itchy hospital bed blankets and fell into a real sleep, snores and all.<p>

_x

Maka dreamed of having dinner with her mother, at a fancy restaurant in Spain, it was going so well; Maka talked about her life in Death City, her friends and achievements, she even told her mother the story of how she and Soul lost all their hundred souls because they mistook Blair for an actual witch. Kami told Maka of her travels, about the amazing cultures she had witnessed and showed her photos of all the different places she had been. It was such a happy moment that Maka almost didn't notice the elephant sitting beside her; almost. After she noticed it, she couldn't _un-_notice it; it was so loud, trumpeting in her ear. Then Maka began to notice all the strange things in her dream, like how the 'restaurant' was just one table in the middle of a city, and that the elephant was small enough to sit in a chair like a person would, and all of her mother's pictures were blank. _Damn, I think I'm starting to wake up. Well shit, now I'm really gonna wake up._ Holding onto the last dregs of her dream, Maka took out her frustration on what she deemed the cause of her waking up; she pulled her arm back to swing. "Fuck you elephant." And she punched the beast in the face.

"Unff." _Huh?_ The elephant and the restaurant and her mother were all gone, now all Maka could see was the insides of her eyelids. She opened her eyes to find her fist planted in Soul's mouth and a very angry Soul looking back at her. "eht our itht ou o ma mout, oman."(2) _What on earth did he just say? OH! Shit, I just punched Soul instead of the elephant._ Maka quickly pulled her hand from Soul's jaw, wiping any saliva on the bed sheets.

"I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to hit you; but that's not important, you're awake! Oh thank god, I missed you so much. I can't believe it, I'm just- so- happy. I should call Stein! Will he even be awake? What time is it?" As quickly as he hand had retreated, Maka threw herself around Soul in what can only be described as a bone crushing hug.

"Musst. Breaathe. Maka. Get. Offf." Without listening to his pleas, Maka had already launched herself towards the phone hanging from the wall, dialling Stein's number zealously.

"PROFESSOR! Soul, he woke up!"

"_Maka? Care to repeat that, slower this time?"_

"Soul woke up, Sir."

"_Did he now? I'll be over in about ten minutes, get him some water and try to keep him comfortable and relaxed until I arrive."_

"Okay, thank you, bye." She hung up and bounded over to the kitchenette, pulled a cup from one of the cupboards and filled it with water for Soul. "Do you need anything else?" The now calmer Maka handed Soul the glass and sat in her usual seat.

"Don't think so."

"SHH! Don't talk, you might strain yourself, the professor said to keep you relaxed." Maka now hovered over the poor boy like an overprotective mother.

"Maka, you punched me in the face before and nothing happened, I think talking will be fine."

"I think you're seriously underplaying this Soul, you were in a coma for a little over a week, it's kind of a big deal."

"I know, Maka, I was fully aware the whole time. I was in the black room." She was lost for words. _I thought being in a coma meant being totally unresponsive, well I guess he didn't respond, but still._

"Y-you were in the black room?"

"Yes."

"And you said you were completely aware?"

"Yep."

"The whole time?"

"That's what I said, isn't it?" Maka sat there in silence for a moment, taking in what she had just found out while Soul eagerly drank his water.

"I'm sorry about punching you before, I thought you were an elephant." Mid-sip, Soul chocked on his water.

"What?"

"I said, I thought you were an elephant; I was having a dream where I was having dinner with my Mama and then there was this elephant and it was trumpeting and disturbing us and then I started to wake up. And since it was the elephant's fault that my dream was ruined, I went to punch it, but I must have been half awake 'cause next thing I know my hand has your mouth on it." Maka looked at her feet, embarrassed.

"Is this a snoring joke, cause I already told you I don't snore."

"No, that's really what happened. And of course _you_ don't think you snore, you're asleep when it happens." Soul's retort was cut off by Stein's appearance.

"Ah, Soul, you've finally decided to awaken; good. Now Maka, I'm going to have to ask that you wait outside for a moment, I have to do a few tests to make sure nothing else is wrong. We wouldn't want young Soul here to end up as my next cadaver because of failure to diagnose any further issues." Maka complied with the professor's wishes and waited outside the infirmary.

_x

When Maka was allowed back into the infirmary with an all-clear from Professor Stein, she found Soul sitting up in his bed, waiting patiently for her return.  
>"Stein said I should be alright to go home tomorrow, maybe even tonight if he's pleased with my recovery."<p>

"That's great, but are you sure it's okay for you to be home so soon? I mean, you just came out of a coma, I would have thought you'd take more time to recover." Maka's uncertainty was evident in both her voice and her expression.

"He said that it wasn't a normal coma, it wasn't caused by head trauma like he originally thought, the kishin egg must have had some weird wavelength which caused it. Also, I'm pretty sure you can't _get_ head trauma in weapon form, seeing as you don't have a head to receive trauma."

"Well, it's a Saturday, so I can stay here with you if you want?" Maka's eyes shone with happiness, thankful of her weapon's miraculous recovery.

"Sure; uh, but Maka?" Soul averted his gaze and began fiddling with a lose thread in the blanket.

"Yeah?" Slightly worried now, the meister sat on the edge of her partner's bed, taking his hand in her own to show that she cared and was listening.

"You said last night that you might be able to... er... read the rest of those books to me. I was wondering if you might, maybe... do that." Soul could feel the blood filling his cheeks at his request. It had seemed so much easier to agree to Maka's offer when she couldn't actually hear him. His thoughts were interrupted by Maka's tinkling laughter. _Great, now she's laughing at me._ Soul turned away in shame, scratching the side of his neck, too embarrassed to face the girl who he had only hours before claimed to love. _Not cool._

"See, I knew you'd like it. I didn't realise you could actually hear everything I said to you. I'll go get the books now if you want." Soul looked up at Maka, who wore a genuine smile, same as the one in the photo of them at the park; it made Soul smile too.

"I could; you should probably get those notes from Tsubaki while you're out." Maka laughed again, picking up her bag and giving Soul another hug before she left.

"I'm glad you're back." She pulled away from the hug, leaving the infirmary and a very happy Soul.

_x

Soul sat on the couch with Maka, not paying any attention to what they were watching; there was nothing on that interested Soul so he gave Maka control of the remote and endured one of her documentaries.

'_After copulation, the female praying mantis will devour her mate; like any other prey, she starts by consuming his head then moves on to the rest of the body.'_

"Ugh, I'm glad human courtship isn't like that."

"Huh?" Soul snapped out of his daze when he realised Maka was talking to him.

"The female praying mantis eat their partners after they mate, I said that I'm glad human courtship isn't like that."

"Oh, right, yeah, that would be bad." The image of Maka eating his head crossed his mind. "Ugh, that would be horrible." She leaned against him, resting against his side. _Why is she so close now? Is she being suggestive or something?_ As if sensing his confusion, Maka giggled, a girly little giggle.

"But I guess, if you're a mantis, you know if your partner likes you if they start eating you." _That sounded suggestive too, is she trying to suggest something? Cause that's what it seems like, why can't you just be strait forward with me woman?_

"Uhhh... Maka."

"Mmm?"

"You know how I said I could hear everything that was said when I was in that coma, I could see stuff too." He waited a moment to see if she would catch on to where he was going with this. She didn't. "And uh... One of the things I saw was uh..." _Was it always this hot in here? I need a drink. _"You uh..."

"I _what_ Soul?" Maka was confused, and more than a little worried. _Here goes_.

"Um, you might have, maybe kissed me on the forehead at some point and erm..." He wanted to die, this was the most embarrassing, stupid thing he had ever done, it was worse than asking Maka to read to him; much worse. Soul felt like an idiot and looked like a nervous tomato. Beside him, Maka tensed before relaxing into the couch with a defeated sigh.

"You were wondering what I meant by that."

"Yeah."

"It's not secret I have feelings for you, Soul." He was silent, waiting to see if the girl he loved would continue. "I know it's stupid, I'm just your dorky partner, I don't want you to feel bad about rejecting me, I can take it." _She thinks I'll... Reject her?_

"Bu-"

"No, it's fine, I never expected you to return my feelings, I know I'm not that attractive and I'm kind of a dorky loser, I don't even know where these feelings came from." She spoke strong words, but it didn't take a genius to tell that she was hurting just thinking about it. Soul pulled her close, holding Maka against his chest and kissed the top of her head; she froze.

"Idiot."

"What?" Maka looked up at Soul, confused by his comment. The emboldened weapon took this opportunity to kiss her one the lips.

"I called you an idiot, cause that's what you are. I did a lot of thinking this past week, and I realised how much I actually care about you. And it's a lot." Hope shone in Maka's eyes and she wrapped her arms around Soul's neck, pulling him in for a second kiss, then a third and fourth and eventually they just didn't break apart; when Soul's tongue requested entrance, Maka complied, opening her mouth to him and letting her own tongue dance with his, exploring his mouth as he did hers.

After a few minutes of making out on the couch, the couple pulled apart, staring into each other's eyes. "I love you, Maka."

"I love you too Soul." She paused. "So, what does this make us?"

"I was kinda hoping for girlfriend and boyfriend?"

"Nah, that sounds too juvenile, I think we should stay as we are, partners." Soul liked the sound of that, partners, just like they always have been, but now in the romantic sense.

"Okay then, but I think we should be making out again." So they did; and unbeknown to either of them, their Album Vitaes gained a new image, to commemorate each of them finding their soul mate.

* * *

><p>Thank you for reading, I think I might have rushed through it a bit, even though it is pretty long, especially at the end. Please leave me a review, I'll mentally high-five you if you do.<p>

(1) Deltora Quest, 'nuff said, it's a cool series and something I thought Soul might enjoy.

(2) Just in case you can't read _mumble-ish_ it says: "Get your fist out of my mouth, woman."


End file.
